A rumbling volcano in the central Philippines yesterday shot a huge column of ash into the sky, prompting the nation’s aviation agency to warn aircraft to stay away, authorities said.
Kanlaon Volcano, located in the central island of Negros, launched a plume of whitish-grey ash about 1.5km into the air, Kenn John Veracruz of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
The Philippine Civil Aviation Authority issued an advisory, saying: “Flights operating in the vicinity of the volcano are advised to avoid flying close to the summit, as airborne ash from a sudden eruption can be hazardous to aircraft.”
Photo: AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPINES INSTITUTE OF VOLCANOLOGY AND SEIMOLOGY
The volcano, about 510km south of Manila, has been more active than usual since November last year, prompting the government to ban hikers from its slopes.
Veracruz said that so far, authorities had not detected any lava rising inside the 2.47km-high volcano, but they were checking how far the ash was being scattered by the wind and whether it could affect nearby communities.
“It has been raining in recent days, so there was likely water that built up inside the volcano and since the crater is hot, it built up the steam pressure,” causing the eruption of ash, said Veracruz, a member of the institute’s volcano monitoring division.
He added that it was possible the volcano could experience another ash eruption.
The Philippine Office of Civil Defense said it had not received any reports of damage or people affected from the ashfall, but that authorities remained on alert.
Kanlaon has had several eruptions, usually of ash, in the past century, leading the government to impose a permanent 4km “danger zone” around the volcano where people are barred from living.
In August 1996, the volcano abruptly erupted, sending a spray of heated rocks that killed three hikers who were near the summit at the time.
Earlier this month, Mount Bulusan in the rural Sorsogon province fired a spectacular column of ash and steam into the air.
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